Actor Alan Ruck is well remembered for his role of Cameron Frye in
John Hughes' “Ferris Bueller's Day Off” (1986, opposite
Matthew Broderick) and as Stuart Bondek in the popular ABC sitcom
“Spin City” (1996 -2002, opposite Michael J. Fox and then
Charlie Sheen). The character actor began his career on stage in
Chicago with theater companies like the Goodman Theatre, the Wisdom
Bridge Theatre, and the Apollo Theatre before moving to New York and
making his Broadway debut in Neil Simon's “Biloxi Blues”
(1985), where he originated the role of Don Carney. It was while in
“Biloxi Blues” that he was first paired with actor
Matthew Broderick. They were later reunited in the successful movie
“Ferris Bueller's Day Off.”

Ruck is also known for playing roles in the films “Young
Guns II” (1990), “Speed” (1994), “Star Trek:
Generations” (1994), “Twister” (1996), “Cheaper
by the Dozen” (2003), “Kickin It Old Skool” (2007),
“Eavesdrop” (2008) and “The Happening”
(2008). Prior to “Spin City,” Ruck appeared in a string
of short lived TV series, including “Going Places”
(1990-1991), “Daddy's Girls” (1994) and “Muscle”
(1995). More recently, in 2009, he made a comeback to series TV as a
regular in “Persons Unknown,” where he portrayed Charlie.

Ruck has been married twice and is the father of two. He was
married to first wife Claudia Stefany, the mother of his two
children, from 1984 to 2005. He has been married to his present wife,
actress Mireille Enos, since 2008.

The Legend of Sleepy Hollow

Childhood and Family:

Alan D. Ruck was born on July 1, 1956, in Cleveland, Ohio, to a
school teacher and an employee in the pharmaceutical industry. Alan
knew he wanted to act after seeing his older sister perform in school
plays. In the sixth grade, he took part in a reading of Washington
Irving's “The Legend of Sleepy Hollow.” While in high
school, he actively participated in school theater productions. Alan
graduated from Parma Senior High School in Parma, Ohio, and earned a
BFA in theater from the University of Illinois at Champaign-Urbana,
Illinois, in 1979.

On June 22, 1984, Alan married Claudia Stefany. They divorced in
2005 after having been together for 21 years. Alan and his former
wife share two children, a daughter named Emma Ruck (born in 1987),
and a son named Sam Ruck. On January 8, 2008, Alan married actress
Mireille Enos (born in 1975).

Currently living in New York, Alan almost died of septicemia in
2002.

Ferris Bueller's Day Off

Career:

Ohio native Alan Ruck launched his acting career in theaters in
Chicago after graduating from college. He made his stage debut in a
production of “Album” at Chicago's Apollo Theater. In
1984, he directed and starred in the play “Billy Bishop Goes to
War” at the Wisdom Bridge Theatre and was nominated for Joseph
Jefferson Awards in the categories of Director of a Revue and Actor
in a Principal Role in a Play for his work. While still in Chicago he
also appeared in the films “Bad Boys” and “Class”
(both 1983) and the TV films “Hard Knox” (1984) and
“First Steps” (1985).

Ruck moved to New York to further pursue his career. He made his
Broadway debut in the original production of Neil Simon's “Biloxi
Blues” (1985), in which he was cast as Don Carney. In the play,
he starred alongside Matthew Broderick. Ruck and Broderick were
reunited the following year by director/writer John Hughes in his
comedy film “Ferris Bueller's Day Off,” where Ruck
memorably played Cameron Frye, the gloomy buddy of Ferris Bueller
(played by Broderick). The film received good reviews from critics
and was a huge success (became the 10th highest grossing film of
1986).

After the success of “Ferris Bueller's Day Off,” Ruck
costarred with Charlie Sheen and Kerri Green in the comedy “Three
for the Road” (1987), directed by Bill L. Norton, supported
Nick Nolte and Martin Short in Francis Veber's “Three
Fugitives” (1989) and appeared as John Wangle in “Bloodhounds
of Broadway” (1989), which starred Matt Dillon, Jennifer Grey,
Julie Hagerty, Rutger Hauer, Madonna, and Randy Quaid. On the small
screen, he worked with Helen Hunt and Jeffrey Nordling in the Emmy
Award winning television movie “Shooter” (1988) and guest
starred as Sheldon Samms in an episode of the CBS short lived comedy
“The Famous Teddy Z” (1989), starring Jon Cryer.

Ruck made his debut as a series regular in “Going Places,”
playing Chicago ad man Charlie Davis. The prime time show premiered
on ABC on September 21, 1990, but was canceled after one season
because of poor ratings. From 1992 to 1993, he joined the cast headed
by Julie Brown in the short lived Fox sketch comedy series “The
Edge,” and in 1994, began his regular role as Lenny, an
ophthalmologist, in another short lived comedy series, “Daddy's
Girls” (CBS, 1994). The lanky performer experienced another
failing series with the WB comedy “Muscle” (1995).
However, Ruck earned major exposure with the popular ABC sitcom “Spin
City,” which ran from 1996 to 2002. In the series, he costarred
as Stuart Bondek.

Ruck also had a recurring role in the hit NBC sitcom “Mad
about You” (1995-1996, as Lance Brockwell), guest starred in
such TV shows as “Picket Fences,” “Tales from the
Crypt” (both 1993), “The Outer Limits” (1996) and
“From the Earth to the Moon” (1998) and acted in the
television movie “The Ransom of Red Chief” (1998),
opposite Christopher Lloyd and Michael Jeter.

Despite his busy TV schedule, Ruck received the important of
Hendry William French in “Young Guns II” (1990, also
starring Emilio Estevez, Kiefer Sutherland, Lou Diamond Phillips and
Christian Slater), costarred in the comedy “Just Like in the
Movies” (1992), was cast as Stephens in the box office hit
“Speed” (1994, directed by Jan de Bont and starred Keanu
Reeves and Sandra Bullock), played the fledgling captain of the new
Enterprise, John Harriman, in “Star Trek: Generation”
(also 1994) and appeared in John Gray's “Born to Be Wild”
(1995). He was reunited with Jan de Bont for the popular disaster
film “Twister” (1996), in which he played the supporting
role of storm chaser Robert 'Rabbit'' Nurick, and appeared in the
independent films “Walking to the Waterline” (1998),
“Everything Put Together” and “Endsville”
(both 2000)

After “Spin City” ended, Ruck returned to series TV as
a guest star in “Scrubs” (2003) and had the small role of
Bill Shenk in the comedy film “Cheaper by the Dozen,”
which starred Steve Martin and Bonnie Hunt. Also in 2003, he
revisited the stage as the star of Noel Coward's stylish romantic
comedy “Private Lives” at the Weston Playhouse Theatre
Company. He also starred as Leo Bloom in the touring cast of the
Broadway production of Mel Brooks' musical “The Producers”
(2004-2005) and played Ronald in “Absurd Person Singular”
(2005), a play by Alan Ayckbourn, at New York City’s Biltmore
Theater.

Ruck resumed his screen career by appearing in the film “Exact
Fire,” the TV film “Don's Ask” and an episode of
“Stella” (all 2005). He then gave a guest appearance as
Dr. Fletcher in “Stargate: Atlantis” (2006), appeared
alongside Christine Evangelista, Michael Mosley, Patrick Duff and
Kevin Corrigan in “Goodbye Baby” (2007), a drama film
written and directed by Daniel Schechter, and had the important
supporting role of Dr. Fry in Harvey Glazer's comedy “Kickin It
Old Skool” (2007). He also appeared as a reporter in the eight
episode miniseries adaptation of Jonathan Mahler's best selling book,
“The Bronx Is Burning” (ESPN, 2007), starring Daniel
Sunjata, Oliver Platt, and John Turturro, reprised his role of
Captain John Harriman from “Star Trek: Generation” in the
three part miniseries “Star Trek: Of Gods and Men,”
played Steve Sinclair in an episode of “Ghost Whisperer”
called “Bad Blood” and began his recurring role of Dean
Bowman in the ABC family show “Greek” (all 2007).

2008 saw Ruck in the science fiction film “InAlienable,”
Matthew Miele's “Eavesdrop” (as Casper), M. Night
Shyamalan's horror film “The Happening” (with Mark
Wahlberg, Zooey Deschanel and John Leguizamo), David Koepp's “Ghost
Town” (played a ghost dad) and in episodes of such TV series as
“Eureka,” “Psych” and “Boston Legal.”
In 2009, he returned to series TV as a regular in the drama “Persons
Unknown,” opposite Chadwick Boseman, Daisy Betts and Jason
Wiles, and guest starred in the comedy series “Ruby & the
Rockits” and the series “FlashForward.” He was also
cast as Mr. Cooverman in the Chris Coumbus comedy film “I Love
You, Beth Cooper,” starring Hayden Panettiere and Paul Rust.

Ruck will appear in the comedy film “Booted,” which is
slated for a 2010 release. Shaun Paul Costello will be directing the
project and Greg Bell will be starring as Will Kellinsky.